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(e)Book – Love and friendship

  (e) Book –  Love and friendship Full title :  Love and friendship and other early works Author : Jane Austen Score : /10 Year : 1790 (original) ; 2012 (this edition) Publisher : Duke Classics   ISBN  978-1-62012-155-9  // 9781620121559  (ebook)  Pages :  Language: English Jane Austen is best known for her 6 novels, which all have been adapted into tv movies - but after having read Virginia Woolf's short fiction in chronological order, I decided to apply the same for Austen's publications, to better appreciate her growth and evolution in narrative style. So, before reading her novels which were released from 1811 to 1817, in the following order :  Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma,  Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, I decided to go back to her teenage years, reading Love and Friendships, and other early works.
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Movie- Helen (2009)



Movie – Helen

Score : 6/10  
Year : 2009
Director:  Sandra Nettlebeck
Country: USA. UK. Germany. Canada
Language: English
Duration: 2h00
Helen is an independent movie that might be triggering to some. Indeed, it deals with mental illness, realistically depicting depression through the main character - Helen, as the title suggests. 

 This movie is a bit slow, especially in the earlier stages, but this has a purpose to build up and tell us, the viewers, of the circumstances before onset ; subsequently, this also reminds us that anyone can suffer from depression, which is a rather positive aspect because it doesn't perpetuate misconceptions.

 There is an intentional choice in decor and environment; between the external world and the inner turmoils, which I found one of the strongest aspects of this film.
Another relies on Ashley Judd's performance, and the overall acting of the rest of the cast- and speaking off that, too : casting Alexia Fast as Julie, Helen's daughter ;: she looks like she could indeed be relates to Ashley Judd. 

 The cinematography is well made, notably with the camera panning and angles - most of the time, at least. 

 People look real, not with huge makeup first thing out of bed. 

 There are, however, a few flaws which explain my overall score for Helen : 
First, it's a bit too predicable in some respects. 
Secondly, a cheap song ruins the dramatic effect of a key moment, which is a terrible choice, in my opinion. It should have been silent, or just a slight instrumental dramatic tune - but not that song. 
Third, the ending forces me to imagine details that haven't been said or shown, because what is shown isn't an ending that I totally like - not by itself, because it sends a message that I disagree with. Once I add that intermediary scene in my mind, this ending makes better sense, but I would have preferred a very different ending altogether... which is a bit of a shame, because otherwise it's a rather well made film. 

 I'll remind you again that if you suffer or have suffered from mental illness, especially depression, this might be triggering. 

 It is rated R 

 Casting: Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic*, Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Alberta Watson, David Hewlett, et al. 




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